Connecticut
by Bralt
Summary: This is for the killing that happened 12/14/12 in Connecticut where 20 children and 6 adults died.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Ranger's Apprentice or any of its characters**

**So I'm sure a lot of you in the US have heard of the Connecticut killing yesterday morning in which 20 children and 6 adults were killed. This is my way of venting I suppose. I wasn't directly affected by it but it really did anger me.**

Halt stood dumbfounded in the doorway to the schoolroom. His bow was raised but there wasn't any target so he lowered it slowly. The entire room seemed to be one of death. From the small forms of at least a dozen children to the larger bodies of at least two adults. Behind him he heard the sound of hurrying footsteps. That would be the knights coming. He'd been getting ready to leave Arald's office when a messenger had burst in panting. Apparently somebody had been walking past the schoolroom and heard screams. By the time said person had opened the heavy door; all that was left were the corpses. Halt had rushed down to the room to perhaps catch anybody trying to pass unseen but there was nobody.

Setting his bow against the wall, Halt walked towards the prone figures on the ground. They were still warm and he felt an alarming surge of anger curse through him. Who would do this to children? It was inhumane, it was senseless and it was downright cruel. The first body he came to was one of a small boy no older than seven. His face was frozen in eternal fear and he had an arrow sticking out from his neck.

Already Halt was forming a picture of what had happened. The killer had come through the door with a bow raised. Basing his idea on the tendencies of children, Halt figured that the small boy may have tried to act brave and in return been killed. After that it'd most likely just be arrow after arrow until everybody was down. In the rather cluttered room with one exit there really wasn't any place for them to run. It was like shooting innocent fish in a barrel and Halt felt his insides churn.

It was a well-known fact Halt wasn't a crier but now he felt the welling up of tears in his eyes. None of these children had done anything to promote this kind of violence yet they'd been the victims nonetheless. Standing again, Halt swept a hand across his face to clear the water. Moving on, Halt developed more of his picture.

The children would have been terrified and run to the only thing that represented safety to them. The teacher. Halt found her lying in a corner of the room. Several of the kids were clustered around her in permanent stillness. All of their faces seemed wet and Halt had to look away for a moment. He'd seen death before and he'd even stared it in the eye and considered it a fiend or friend at times. This was nothing compared to that. This was the picture of sadistic pointlessness. And why did it have to be children? Halt figured the oldest one in the room to be, at most, ten and that was far too young to die.

Halt looked once more at the teacher and the children around her before walking to another spot in the room. Three bodies were lying face down in the ground here, blood pools already beginning to dry. It was one of the older boys with two girls, these seeming to be only five, right beside him. Halt crouched down and felt for a pulse. It was meaningless as the arrow in the backs would have proved that a pulse wouldn't have been found. Halt let his fingers drop away from the boy's neck.

Halt looked at the positions of the bodies and realized the boy had tried to shield the younger kids. Yet another act of bravery that had resulted in death. Halt swallowed hard and resisted the urge to take out his anger on something. He still had to figure out what happened to the killer. There was nothing in the corridor; he'd already searched it with a Ranger's eye. All guards were on alert now as well and the ones he'd heard coming had no doubt sent out orders for a search and even been on one Halt thought as he heard the steps rush by.

Resolving not to grieve until the one responsible was found and killed, Halt straightened and moved on. There were several scenes of older children trying to save younger ones but they were all dead. Not one sign of life was portrayed and Halt's insides churned like an ocean. It wasn't until he came to the other adult that he felt some relief.

This body was one of a male adult. A bow lay nearby him and a quiver was attached to his back. At first Halt thought it simply a setup from the real killer but that was before he saw the knife in the gut. Said weapon was held by the male himself and was driven far into the chest. Halt stared down at the body. It wasn't a pretty sight and he still had his doubts but one look at the eyes told him that this was the one responsible. The eyes held something Halt had only ever seen in a murderer.

Halt knew the man was dead but it didn't sit right with him. This person had caused all this death and then taken his life like a coward. Halt recalled several times where men took their lives and were remembered in sorrow but knew that wasn't the case this time. Those men hadn't done something like kill children. The Ranger had a feeling that the killer had tried to get himself remembered in sorrow by killing himself but Halt made a promise not to let one soul feel sorry for him. In an uncharacteristic surge of fury, Halt delivered a crushing kick to the man's head. There was the sound of bone cracking and Halt took a deep breath. Getting angry wasn't going to do anything…not now at least. It was over with and he knew that most likely nobody knew about it yet.

Collecting himself, Halt went back to the door of the room and grabbed his bow. He cast one more glance at the room before leaving. It was going to be hard and he was no doubt going to be hated as the bringer of news, but parents had to know. And Halt promised himself that Redmont would hear of this.

**I do hope that none of you reading lost a loved one and if you did then I'm extremely sorry for you. It was a brutal and pointless thing for that man to do and I know it's bad to say this but, I couldn't be happier that he's dead.**


End file.
